. >> the country will be in a dire situation. president obama knows this. he proved it before, and he is not going to play games with economic stability. >> so we have to pay our bills. and republicans in congress have two choices here, they can act responsibly and pay america's bills. or they can act irresponsibly and put america through another economic crisis. but they will not collect a ransom in exchange for crashing the american economy. the financial well being of the american people is not leverage to be used. the full faith and credit of the united states of america is not a bargaining chip. and they had better choose quickly, because time is running short. >> the president, simple and direct, everybody on the same page now? naturally the republican leaders decided to confuse and distract one more time. senate republican leader mitch mcconnell decided to link the debt to spending, saying the president and his allies need to get serious about spending, the debate is the perfect time for it. house speaker john boehner also ignored the obligation to p